<p>I'm from California (los angeles to be exact) and I'm seriously considering Oberlin and various other Liberal Arts colleges. That being said, the only thing somewhat slowing my application is the possibility of a MASSIVE CULTURE SHOCK I'd be facing if I were to attend. Coming from an incredibly hot, incredibly large, snowless, metropolitian city, what adjustments would I have to make. Insight would be nice, especially from people from a similar background</p>
<p>This question has been discussed many times on this board, most recently here: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/oberlin-college/1193903-oberlin-atmosphere-size.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/oberlin-college/1193903-oberlin-atmosphere-size.html</a> . Just look around a little, and you’ll find many, many answers. Also check out the [Oberlin</a> Blogs](<a href=“http://blogs.oberlin.edu/]Oberlin”>http://blogs.oberlin.edu/) , where you’ll find posts like [Oberlin</a> Blogs | Blog Entry: "Welcome to My Oberlin! "](<a href=“http://blogs.oberlin.edu/applying/applying/welcome_to_my_o.shtml]Oberlin”>http://blogs.oberlin.edu/applying/applying/welcome_to_my_o.shtml) and [Oberlin</a> Blogs | Blog Entry: "Sand to Snow: the West Coast to Midwest transition "](<a href=“http://blogs.oberlin.edu/community/life_culture/sand_to_snow_th.shtml]Oberlin”>http://blogs.oberlin.edu/community/life_culture/sand_to_snow_th.shtml) .</p>
<p>I’d recommend visiting in mid-winter to see what you think of the cold and snow. The winters in the Midwest and East last a long time.</p>
<p>I think going to a liberal arts college far from home is a great idea if you don’t mind dealing with winter.</p>
<p>I believe that CA has the second largest cohort of students at Oberlin after NY. Every large metropolitan area in the state has an Oberlin alumni network and has events for prospective students. If you can’t visit–or even if you can, I’d recommend you contact them.</p>
<p>There seems to be more Californians at Oberlin than Ohioans. But maybe that new scholarship (I think it is new) that gives full tuition scholarships to top graduates of Oberlin High School will increase the number of Ohioans. </p>
<p>There is a Hawaiian in my daughter’s class. Talk about culture shock.</p>
<p>If the OP is considering LACs to the east of Ohio, especially Maine and Vermont, don’t forget it will be even colder and snowier at those schools. Colder still at Carleton and Macalester in Minnesota. I think Oberlin, Ohio is balmy compared to those places.</p>
<p>I’m from Hawaii. Went to college in Wisconsin. Live in Minnesota. D went to Oberlin last year. The trials and tribulations of the Midwestern winter are a bit oversold. People who live in inclement climes tend to make overmuch of their hardiness and fortitude. This is not to say that winter isn’t real in Ohio and that it will not present some inconveniences heretofor unknown to you. But the trick is that they can all be accommodated by being smart about it and embracing winter. Get the right clothes and boots. Give yourself a bit more time to get places. Stay inside and don’t be stupid when a blizzard is coming through. Learn winter sports. My D, who lives in flip flops, got tabi socks so she could keep her feet warm and still wear them around in winter. Not to worry. It’s perfectly manageable.</p>
<p>What a plethora of Hawaiian things on this thread! I went to high school in Hawaii… and I adjusted to Oberlin weather just fine, and I would say my brother adjusted even better.</p>
<p>Winter is a pretty lovely thing, and Oberlin does it justice. I grew up in Kentucky, where is is cold and rarely snows through the winter. Here, it snows, and campus/town/Ohio knows how to deal with it: roads are plowed and salted, as are the sidewalks throughout campus. If you’re going to experience winter, experiencing it in the midwest is a good way to do so.</p>
<p>Then again, I am also a huge fan of seasons and people think I’m crazy for not liking the weather in Hawaii. Grain of salt, obviously.</p>
<p>Yes, you do lose some credibility here in the upper Midwest when you tell people where you are from and they look at you like you have lost your senses. You’re from where? And you live here?</p>
<p>The change of seasons is a wonderful thing. It happens in Hawaii too, but it is a bit more, shall we say, demonstrative in Ohio and Minnesota.</p>
<p>I know Minnesota well. Lived there for 16 years. My Oberlin daughter was born and grew up there. My wife is a native Minnesotan. Congrats Pohaku. You survived last winter, which was HORRIBLE! Fortunately for the OP, it doesn’t get nearly that bad in Ohio. :)</p>
<p>Maayan,</p>
<p>Very true, the farther north you go, the better the locals handle winter. I lived in New Orleans when it snowed for the first time in 50 years on New Year’s Eve. 6 inches. Nothing to do but wait for it to melt. In Ohio or Minnesota, everyone shrugs (and breaks out the skis and sleds) and life goes on.</p>
<p>I do remember a (very) brief hail storm at Captain Cook one March. Very unusual Hawaiian winter weather - especially for the Kona side. So we do have inclement winter weather in Hawaii, it’s just somewhat more enthusiastic and frequent in Ohio.</p>
<p>When I went to HPA, Konawaena was a tough place to play a ball game. You had better places to surf though.</p>
<p>Pohaku</p>